When trying to categorize these motorcycles it helps to sort out the various terminology associated with them, if only for my sake.
Standard motorcycles: Feature an upright, "sit up and beg" riding position. High mounted handle bars and foot pegs that are directly below the rider's butt create this position. Standards usually don't have much if any wind protection or luggage capacity. Example - Suzuki Bandit
Streetfighters: The term streetfighter came from the 1980's and 1990's shortly after the introduction to plastic wrapped repli-racer sportbike riders. A rider would crash, and rather than replacing the platic fairing, the owner would customize the bike giving it a tough new look. Example - Aprilia Tuono
Hooligan bikes: Hooligan bikes might as well be interchangeable with streetfighters. A hooligan bike is any motorcycle that can easily perform stunts such as wheelies and stoppies. Example - Triumph Speed Triple
Cafe racers: Back in the 1950's and 1960's pretty much every motorcycle would be considered a standard. In Britain it was popular for motorcyclists to modify their bikes (clip-on handlebars, high mounted footpegs, etc) and race their machines from one cafe to the next. Example - Triumph Thruxton
Naked bikes: A naked bike is any motorcycle without a wind protection of a fairing. Example - Ducati Monster
As you can see some bikes fit in one or more categories, they are not mutually exclusive and they do not necessarily mean the same thing. For example a streetfighter is always naked, but not all naked bikes are streetfighters. The lines and identification for all these bikes is often very blurry, so don't take anything to seriously.
First lets get the "old" standards out of the way.
Then there's the "new" standards that I've been going on about.
Finally the smaller versions of the new standards.
Suzuki attacked the market with the TL1000S. In 1997 the liquid cooled 90 degree V-twin offered an alternative to their ever popular GSX-R750. The TL gained a following however due to a number of suspension problems the Suzuki found a reputation for being a deadly motorcycle and sales dropped. The TL also came in a repli-racer style with the TL1000R, which lasted one year after the TL1000S. The TL's V-twin lived on in Suzuki's SV1000, however this model never seemed to be very popular.
The same year Suzuki came out with the TL Honda introduced their own V-twin, the VTR1000F otherwise known in the US as the SuperHawk. Like the Ducati and Suzuki the VTR featured a 90 degree twin. A unique feature of the VTR was the split side mounted radiators. The VTR never seemed to catch on in the US. In 2000 Honda was the first and only Japanese competitor to seriously take on Ducati with their own WSB V-tiwn, the VTR1000R, which shared little with the VTR1000F.
While Honda and Suzuki had offered liquid cooled 90 degree V-twins, they never really lived up to Ducati's racey 916. Instead the TL and VTR found themselves competing with Ducati's less sport Super Sport model. The Super Sport model featured an air cooled 900cc twin that traces its roots the mid eighties. This bike was far from offering the Superbike performance of the 916, but price wise and style wise it competed with the TL and VTR nicely.
